The city is known as the "Sun City" for the bright and sunny weather it enjoys all the year round. The old city circles the fort and is bounded by a wall with several gates.[6] Jodhpur is also known as the "Blue City" because of the blue colours that decorate many of the houses in the old city area.[7] However, the city has expanded greatly outside the wall over the past several decades.

Jodhpur lies near the geographic centre of the Rajasthan state, which makes it a convenient base for travel in a region much frequented by tourists.

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According to the Rajasthan District Gazetteers of Jodhpur and the Hindu epic Ramayana (composed up to the 4th century AD), Abhiras (Ahirs) were the original inhabitants of Marwar and later Aryans spread to this region. There may have been small settlements before Rathore rule.[8][9]

The Jodhpur city was founded in 1459 by Rao Jodha, a Rajputchief of the Rathoreclan. Jodha succeeded in conquering the surrounding territory and thus founded a state which came to be known as Marwar. As Jodha hailed from the nearby town of Mandore, that town initially served as the capital of this state; however, Jodhpur soon took over that role, even during the lifetime of Jodha. The city was located on the strategic road linking Delhi to Gujarat. This enabled it to profit from a flourishing trade in opium, copper, silk, sandalwood, date palm and other tradable goods.

After the death of Rao Chandrasen Rathore the state became a fief under the Mughal Empire, owing fealty to them while enjoying internal autonomy. During this period, the state furnished the Mughals with several notable generals such as Maharaja Jaswant Singh. Jodhpur and its people benefited from this exposure to the wider world as new styles of art and architecture made their appearance and opportunities opened up for local tradesmen to make their mark across northern India.

View of the Rajasthan High Court, Sardar Museum in Umaid Park and upper right is Jodhpur fort in 1960.

Aurangzeb briefly sequestrated the state (c.1679) after the death of Maharaja Jaswant Singh, but the prior ruler Maharaja Ajit Singh was restored to the throne by Veer Durgadas Rathore after Aurangzeb died in 1707 and a great struggle of 30 years. The Mughal empire declined gradually after 1707, but the Jodhpur court was beset by intrigue; rather than benefiting from circumstances, Marwar descended into strife and invited the intervention of the Marathas, who soon supplanted the Mughals as overlords of the region. This did not make for stability or peace, however- 50 years of wars and treaties dissipated the wealth of the state, which sought the help of the British and entered into a subsidiary alliance with them in 1818.

Street Scene of Jodhpur in 1906

During the British Raj, the state of Jodhpur had the largest land area of any in the Rajputana. Jodhpur prospered under the peace and stability that was a hallmark of this era. The land area of the state was 90,554 km2 (34,963 sq mi) its population in 1901 was 44,73,759. It enjoyed an estimated revenue of £3,529,000. Its merchants, the Marwaris, flourished and came to occupy a position of dominance in trade across India. In 1947, when India became independent, the state merged into the union of India and Jodhpur became the second largest city of Rajasthan.

At the time of partition, the ruler of Jodhpur, Hanwant Singh, did not want to join India, but finally due to the effective persuasion of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the Home Minister at the time, the state of Jodhpur was included in Indian Republic. Later after the State Reorganisation Act, 1956 it was included within the state of Rajasthan.

As per provisional reports of Census India,[4] the population of Jodhpur is 1,033,918 in 2011, where males constitute approximately 52.62 percent of the population and females constitute approximately 47.38 percent. The average literacy rate of Jodhpur is 80.56 percent, with a male literacy rate of approximately 88.42 percent and a female literacy rate of approximately 73.93 percent. Approximately 12.24 percent of the population are under six years of age. Jodhpur city is governed by Municipal Corporation which comes under Jodhpur Urban Agglomeration. The Jodhpur Urban/Metropolitan area include Jodhpur, Kuri Bhagtasani, Mandore Industrial Area, Nandri, Pal Village and Sangariya. Its Urban/Metropolitan population is 1,137,815 of which 599,332 are males and 538,483 are females. According to www.citypopulation.de population of Jodhpur city on 01/01/2018 is 1,400,000. [10]

The climate of Jodhpur is hot and semi-arid during its nearly yearlong dry season, but contains a brief rainy season from late June to September (KöppenBShw). Although the average rainfall is around 450 millimetres (18 in), it fluctuates greatly. In the famine year of 1899, Jodhpur received only 24 millimetres (0.94 in), but in the flood year of 1917 it received as much as 1,178 millimetres (46.4 in).

Temperatures are extreme from March to October, except when the monsoonal rain produces thick clouds to lower it slightly. In the months of April, May and June, high temperatures routinely exceed 40 degrees Celsius. During the monsoon season, average temperatures decrease slightly. However, the city's generally low humidity rises, which adds to the perception of the heat. The highest temperature recorded in Jodhpur was on 18 May 2016 when it rose up to 53.2 degrees Celsius.

The administration of Jodhpur consists of a District Collector, followed by 4 additional District Magistrates (I, II, Land Conversion and City ADM). Presently, the Collector and District Magistrate is Dr. Ravi surpur (IAS). The city is also under Police Commissioner system, with Mr. Ashok Rathore (IPS) as acting Police Commissioner of the city.

India's most ambitious industrial development project, the over USD 100 billion dollars Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Project is also going to impact industries in Jodhpur. Marwar Junction, which is located about 103 kilometres from Jodhpur will be one of the nine freight loading points along the DMIC route. Jodhpur and Pali districts fall under the region that is going to be developed as a manufacturing hub for the DMIC.

The city is famous for its food and its popularity can be judged from the fact that one can find sweet shops named 'Jodhpur Sweets' in many cities throughout India. Being at the onshore of Thar desert, life has been influenced by ways of select nomadic tribes (So-called "Gypsy" groups - Banjare in Hindi - have settled in some parts of the city).

Jodhpur is fast becoming a major education hub for higher studies in India. With many renowned academicians, Jodhpur is India's largest hub for preparation of the Chartered Accountant (CA) entrance examination held throughout India by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI).

Major research institutes and organizations have been established in the city for promoting research:

Arid Forest Research Institute is one of the institutes of the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) working under the Ministry of Environment & Forests, Govt. of India for carrying out scientific research in forestry to provide technologies to increase the vegetative cover and to conserve the biodiversity in the hot arid and semi-arid region of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Dadara union, and Nagar Haveli union territory. The campus covers 66 hectares on the New Pali Road.

Central Arid Zone Research Institute (CAZRI) is a premier Organisation of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), an autonomous organization under the Department of Agricultural Research and Education, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India.

Desert Medicine Research Centre (DMRC) is one of the 33 permanent institutes of Indian Council of Medical Research which is an autonomous body for the formulation, coordination and promotion of biomedical research in the country.

Desert Regional Centre, Zoological Survey of India (DRC-ZSI) is the regional arm of the only taxonomic organization in the country involved in the study of all kinds of animals to promote survey, exploration, and research leading to the advancement of zoological study.

Botanical Survey of India (BSI) is the nodal research organization under Ministry of Environment and Forests for research, exploration, and survey of the flora of India.

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is an organization working under the Department of Defence Research and Development of Ministry of Defence for design and development leading to the production of world-class weapon systems and equipment.

Regional Remote Sensing Centre (RRSC, ISRO) is one of the five centers established under National Natural Resources Management System (NNRMS) by Department of Space for remote sensing tasks at regional and national levels.

MBM Engineering College: Research in Master and Ph.D. programs in branches of engineering is done by highly experienced faculty. In civil and chemical engineering, national and state projects are performed by this college.

Rajasthan High Court is the High Court of the state of Rajasthan. It was established on 21 June 1949 under the Rajasthan High Court Ordinance, 1949.

The High Court of Rajasthan was founded in 1949 in Jodhpur and was inaugurated by the Rajpramukh, Maharaja Sawai Man Singh on August 29, 1949. The first Chief Justice was Kamala Kant Verma and the current Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court is the Honorable Justice Pradeep Nandragoj. A bench was formed at Jaipur which was dissolved in 1958 and was again formed on January 31, 1977. Currently, there are forty sanctioned judges.

The city is administered by the Jodhpur Nagar Nigam headed by a mayor. For administrative purposes, the city is divided into 65 wards, from which the members of the corporation council are elected for five years. The municipal corporation has 65 elected members known as councilors, or parshad in Hindi, representing their respective wards (65 geographical units of the city). The ward members are elected by direct voting by electorate for a period of 5 years. In addition to these 65 directly elected members, the corporation has 4 Ex-officio members (1 member of parliament, 3 members of legislative assembly, namely Sardarpura, Soorsagar, City) and 3 Nominated Members.

Jodhpur Airport is one of the prominent airports of Rajasthan. It is primarily a military airbase with a civil enclosure to allow for civilian air traffic. Due to Jodhpur's strategic location, this airport is regarded as one of the most important ones for the Indian Air Force.

At present, there are daily flights from Delhi, Mumbai, Udaipur, Jaipur, Bangalore, Surat and Goa to the city operated by Air India and Jet Airways and Spicejet. The bill and basic formalities for the long-awaited expansion of the airport were cleared by all the concerned authorities in June 2016, clearing the way for the expansion of the airport in two phases beginning Feb 2016. Post the expansion, it is expected that there will be morning and evening flights from the city to more cities than presently available in addition to more airlines coming to and fro the city.

Jodhpur is connected by road to all major cities in Rajasthan and neighboring states like Delhi, Ahmedabad, Surat, Ujjain, Agra etc. Apart from deluxe and express bus services to cities within the state, Rajasthan Roadways provides Volvo & Mercedes Benz bus service to Delhi, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Udaipur and Jaisalmer [1]. Recently, Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) is launched in the city with low floor and semi low floor buses plying on major routes. Jodhpur is connected to the National Highway network with three National Highways and to the Rajasthan State Highway network with ten state highways. National Highways passing through Jodhpur:

NH-112, Junction with NH-14 near Bar connecting Jaitaran-Bilara-Kaparda-Jodhpur-KalyanpurPachpadra-Baloootra-Tilwara-Kher-BagundiDhudhwa-Madhasar-Kawas and terminating at its junction with NH 15 near Barmer, total length= 343 km

NH-114, Junction with NH-65 near Jodhpur connecting Balesar - Dechhu and terminating at its junction with NH-15 near Pokaran, total length= 180 km